Seminar: Total Corrosion Management
Awareness key to fight corrosion
Corrosion has emerged as one of the major problems faced by industries worldwide and is often levelled as Killer No. 1 of plants and equipments. It was keeping its disastrous impact on industries and manufacturing plants that a national seminar on 'Total corrosion management' was inaugurated here in New Delhi on Thursday.
Organised by FICCI, the two-day seminar focussed on various aspects of corrosion including its management, prevention and control. Inaugurated by AM Uplenchwar, chairman, NACP, it received a welcoming response from people and experts alike.
The seminar, first of its kind in India was attended by experts, technology developers, engineers, academicians, consultants and end users from diverse industries including Oil & Gas, Aluminium, Cement, Fertilizers, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, Small & Medium Industries, Thermal power stations etc.
The chief speakers of the seminar included KS Sharma, MD, DEIONERS; Dr S Kapoor, IOGPT, ONGC; Prof AK Khanna, IIT Mumbai; Dr G Saha, former chief, Corrosion Control, EIL; Srikantha Sistla, Sri Coating among others.
Subjects like recent technology in corrosion management and real life case studies were major attractions of the meet which attracted huge response from the audience. Speaking on the occasion, most speakers stressed on the need of a determined front to fight the menace, which was eating the vitals of the industries and the nation.
"The aim of the seminar was to bring industry people under one roof and look out for new solutions to help Indian industry. Corrosion is a critical subject, which often gets neglected by small and medium industries because of lack of awareness and dearth of funds," says MA Patil, Director, Resource Conservation & Management, FICCI.
The gravity of the problem from corrosion can be gauged from the fact that it has led to a recent announcement of International Symposium on Surface Protective Coating, to be held in Goa from February 25-28, 2009.
The loss due to corrosion has variously been calculated keeping in mind the industries it affects. According to some industry estimates, the loss is 3% to 4% of the GDP.
”In 1997, the national loss due to corrosion was about 2-3% amounting to Rs 25,000 crore. In 2002, it was estimated to be 3% amounting to Rs 30,000 crore," says Prof AS Khanna of Corrosion Science & Engineering, IIT Mumbai.
Prof Khanna however, agrees that there is no organised and methodical study in India on the industrial loss due to corrosion. Most of the parameters adopted are the ones used in the studies carried out in the US, Japan, Australia and other industrialised nation.
"In India, the loss due to corrosion is mostly in Offshore Oil and gas industries, Chemical industries, construction of reactors, water tanks, coal-based Power plants etc. It affects mechanical, civil, electrical and electronic components. Now, there is altogether a new area of corrosion in real estate, especially in the malls and buildings in coastal areas where humidity is very high," says Prof Khanna.
Talking about new technology to fight the problem of corrosion, Prof Khanna says, "India doesn't lack in technological up-gradation, what it needs is awareness and the will to implement anti-corrosive measures. As the loss due to corrosion is not immediate and starts only few months after the installation, firms often ignore it till it raises its head with some kind of a breakdown," adds Prof Khanna.
According to Dr G Saha, former chief, Corrosion Control, EIL, "The provision to control corrosion should be done at the very design stage of the plants’ installation. It should be followed by proper selection of material, technology and continuous monitoring."
Dr Shah is of the opinion that most of the industrialists and organisations often compromise with adopting anti-corrosive measures in order to cut the cost. "One may cut the immediate cost by taking recourse to inferior anti-corrosive measures but in the long run it proves to be more expensive. It’s best to get the best of technology at the very stage of inception," says Dr Saha.
Thomex.com
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